


on the scent

by childofthenight2035



Series: magic in the air [6]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, M/M, Magical Artifacts, lapslock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:47:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28748721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofthenight2035/pseuds/childofthenight2035
Summary: to be on the scent:to be pursuing a potential lead in an attempt to find someone or something.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Series: magic in the air [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004382
Kudos: 26





	on the scent

**Author's Note:**

> these are becoming exercises in present tense or something idk, i love em anyway

“you smell different,” is the first thing wonwoo tells him when he bounds over, smacking shoulders with a disgruntled freshman. it catches mingyu off guard, because _wonwoo notices how he smells?_ that’s not weird at all. is wonwoo secretly a werewolf? don’t laugh, it’s something he used to seriously consider back when they first met. he’s even filled like five pages in his notebook theorizing. 

“i—wha—why do you—how do you know I smell different?” he stammers, flush rising in his cheeks. wonwoo raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. 

“apart from the fact that you practically drown in cologne every morning?” 

yeah, he does that. it’s so he doesn’t stink in front of wonwoo by the end of the day. wonwoo might think he’s insane, but it’s worth it if he never finds out about mingyu’s raging wonu-sexuality.

mingyu is totally subtle. he’s doing fine. the guy doesn’t know he’s crushing. that counts as a win.

anyway. 

“you’re up to no good,” wonwoo says, squinting at him suspiciously. “you’re planning something.” he sniffs the air, action exaggerated. “i can smell it.”

mingyu holds up his hands in alarm. “wait, what? no, I’m not!” he pouts, pulling the shoulders of his shirt to his nose. “i got new perfume yesterday from that—that shop down by the supermarket.” he gestures vaguely. “you know, that tiny little place that sells, like, antiques or something? little thingamabobs?” his arms fall to his sides at wonwoo’s expression. “i don’t know either, man. i thought it smelled nice.”

he only just catches the words, _it does_ before his ‘crush’ turns on his heel and walks into the classroom. his mouth is probably open. it’s only the eyes of fifty other students on them that keeps him from pumping his fist in the air. 

class is about to start when the girl in the seat next to mingyu jumps up in horror and shouts. “yah!” he jolts, turning to her in surprise. she’s standing in a puddle; her water bottle must have leaked through her bag. that totally sucks. her books and all her stuff must be ruined. 

but why is she yelling at him?

she points a finger in his face. “yah, kim mingyu! what the hell?”

he’s so utterly bewildered he actually scoots backward. “what did I do?!”

she kicks out—and now mingyu sees an open water bottle fallen over: _his_ water bottle. when had he taken it out? he hisses, snatching it up. it’s nearly empty now. the apologetic grimace on his face does nothing to soften her fury. 

he definitely hasn’t done it on purpose. he hasn’t done it at all. 

class begins eventually, though mingyu keeps a careful eye on his neighbour, so she doesn’t suddenly claw his eyes out. 

the professor is returning graded tests. mingyu thinks he’s done well on the last one. wonwoo helped him study, after all. that was totally one hundred percent _not_ an excuse to spend time with him. of course not! mingyu is a responsible student who just wants to do his best in all his classes despite his lack of bookworm-ish tendencies.

everyone gets their papers back, except mingyu. he looks around at everyone else, mildly confused, and is just about to raise his hand when the professor says sharply, “mingyu and dokyeom. come here, please.”

wonwoo shoots him an alarmed look that _quickly_ changes into one that says ‘what on earth did you do now?’ he can only shrug. he’s in the dark, too. 

when the two boys approach the professor’s desk, he slaps down their answer sheets and demands an answer to his accusation of the blatant copying. the two of them turn to each other in surprise, then grab their papers to compare. he can’t deny there are a lot of the same phrases, but those came out of a textbook! they don’t even sit next to each other in the room! if he wanted to cheat, it would be so much easier to copy off wonwoo’s. 

he says as much to the professor, throwing in, ‘sir, i think you’re being a little unreasonable’ and ‘most of the answers don’t match at all?’ but it does very little to lessen the man’s belief. he lets them go, a special warning for mingyu, as if _he_ was the only one involved. 

this is so unfair. he didn’t do anything wrong, why is he on this guy’s blacklist for nothing? if he was aiming for that, he’d have at least put thumbtacks on his chair. 

jerk.

most of the day passes in the same manner. he gets several nasty looks sent his way, as if he’d somehow done things to offend the entire student body overnight. it unsettles him, but he still brushes it off. until the time comes for mingyu to head to basketball practice—wonwoo digs into his bag for his art journal and finds it missing. that journal, as mingyu knows very well, is something so precious to wonwoo. it’s more private than a diary. even mingyu has only been shown a few pages, a few drawings. 

predictably, he explodes. 

but mingyu doesn’t expect himself to be the suspect here. 

“did you take my journal?” wonwoo snaps, eyes fierce and glossy. “you _know_ you’re not supposed to touch it!” mingyu barely has time to protest before wonwoo shoves him, _hard_ and he goes crashing into the corridor wall. 

hushed voices surround them. these two _never_ fight in public. 

“you know how important that is to me, and you just _stole_ it?” wonwoo’s fingers are twitching with the urge to punch him. “give it back!”

“i don’t have it!” mingyu yells. “why would I steal your journal?”

“yeah, wonwoo!” someone calls from down the hall, from the group of spectators. it’s soonyoung. “only thing mingyu wants to steal is your _heart_!” it’s not even a good joke, but laughter breaks out. 

wonwoo stares at soonyoung with a puzzled expression, like he’s trying to figure out what that means. mingyu is very close to panicking. _this is it,_ he thinks, _he’s not going to be my friend anymore._

so he doesn’t give him the chance. when wonwoo turns to him, he pushes past everyone and nearly bolts to the locker rooms. 

-

basketball practice goes a whole lot better than the rest of his day. he feels so much better after sweating out all that frustration. even coach tells him he did good. 

his good mood disappears when he walks into the locker room and finds wonwoo sitting on one of the benches. the team knows him, knows he’s usually there to watch practices; they greet him, but his eyes don’t leave mingyu. 

mingyu doesn’t look at him. he ducks past two of his teammates to the other side of the room, to some space alone. he hears the footsteps but doesn’t respond.

“mingyu.”

he peels off his shirt. doesn’t say anything. 

“i’m sorry.”

his actions slow down, but he waits.

“i don’t know why i thought you stole my journal. i know you would never do that. i—after you left, i remembered that i didn’t bring it with me today. i’m so sorry for accusing you.”

his heart aches. wonwoo sounds so _small_ and he just wants to hug him. he glances over his shoulder to see the other boy watching hopefully, apologetically. 

“it’s okay,” he shrugs. “i figured—you bring it every day, you must have panicked when it wasn’t there.” wonwoo nods hesitantly. mingyu goes and finds his bag, stuffs the shirt inside. he’s not stripping further in front of him. 

“what did soonyoung mean by that?”

oh _fuck._ “he was just making fun of me.”

“why?”

he sighs, tipping his head back so he faces the ceiling. “i don’t know, why does soonyoung do most things? go ask him. actually, don’t. he’s crazy.” his back is to wonwoo. again. he can’t look. 

“soonyoung said—he said you _like_ me.”

he freezes, heartbeat picking up pace. what? soonyoung, that bastard!

“mingyu?”

he can’t. he can’t talk about this. can’t risk it.

“is that true? what he said?”

he lets out a breath he didn’t know he’s been holding. “of course not.”

a pause. wonwoo hums. “oh. i thought he was…making fun of _me_ , you know? because he knows how i feel about you.”

mingyu nods absently, wonders if a shower will be open—wait, what? he spins around, staring in shock. wonwoo crosses his arms, uncertain. 

“how—you feel about _me_?”

a nod.

“…how _do_ you feel about me?”

“i like you. as in, more than a friend,” wonwoo clarifies. “i was kind of hoping you would too, but i guess not—”

“ _fuck_ that,” mingyu interrupts emphatically. “i thought _you_ didn’t like me that way. that’s why i said—i like you. like, a lot. i completely want to date you.”

wonwoo looks like he can’t believe what he’s hearing. a slow smile spreads over his face and he sticks his hands into his pockets, suddenly shy. it’s then that mingyu remembers he’s still standing there in just his basketball shorts. the locker room is clearing now; he should go and shower and then they can talk about all this. 

man, what a crazy day he’s had.

mingyu grabs his towel and change of clothes and slings them over his shoulder. steps forward, leans down and tilts wonwoo’s chin up. 

“i’m going to kiss you?” he meant it to be assertive, but he can’t help the rising intonation. the shorter boy simply shakes his head grinning, and brings their mouths together.

a crazy, crazy day, indeed.

-

_(you’re the one with fangs, wonwoo says later, dabbing at bruised lips. and you think i’m the werewolf?)_

**Author's Note:**

> again, no, they have no clue about the perfume; with mingyu's luck, he's going to wear it the next day, too


End file.
